I got a call from a friend of ours who we haven’t seen in a while and after catching up she got to the point – she wanted to schedule a boudoir session. I’ve known “Mrs. W” and her husband, “D”, for three years and they’re a great couple. They’ve been married for nearly nine years and July 11th marks not only D’s birthday but also the thirteenth anniversary of when they met! She wanted to do something special for him for his birthday and a Little Black Book was perfect.

The theme was natural and outdoors. She wore almost no makeup and her hair loose. “Think woodland nymph traipsing through the forest,” she said. Living in Florida, we have our choice of natural locations that were perfect. We chose Myrtle Pond at Boyd Hill Nature Park for some of the shots where she dipped her feet in the water and used a shell to pour water on herself like a bathing fairyland creature. I had her pose in a park in her white dress and her wedding veil for some more innocent shots. The next place we went to was Seminole Lake Park where she stood in a field surrounded by moss-draped pines.

She was nervous at first, being out in the open, but was soon laughing and having a good time.

D was surprised and enormously pleased with his little book. “I knew she’d wanted to do this for a long time and I’m so glad she did,” he said. Mrs. W confided in us that she used D’s birthday as an excuse. “Really, I did it for me. I’ve lost a lot of weight recently and it was something I wanted to do when I got down to my goal but then didn’t do because I still saw myself as that bigger girl. But, then D’s birthday was coming up and I had an excuse.”

This is why I like doing boudoir shots. People come in and say it’s for their spouse, their significant other, their boyfriend, but really it’s all about self-confidence and about doing something for their selves.